Mon 12.8.

‘Open & Drink’, curated by Prage-based studio OKOLO, presents an array of formally and materially diverse bottle openers from around the world

That prosaic, yet joyful, object of the everyday, the bottle opener, is celebrated at a new exhibition called ‘Open & Drink’ at the OKOLO/Pedal Project Studio in Prague.

Curated by self-styled ‘creative group’ OKOLO, whose multidisciplinary activity – covering design, architecture, art and fashion – results in such projects as online journalism, exhibitions and special projects, ‘Open & Drink’ presents several contemporary and historical bottle openers from around the world, examining the difference within this object type in terms of form, material and rhetoric. Also on display and definitely for consumption will be the collective’s own new brand of beer, OKOLO Pivo, the result of a collaboration between the Prague studio and the Vyškov brewery.

Tue 23.7.

Designer Peter Olah with hand-made crystal trophies for the Tour de France

For the jubilee 100th year of the Tour de France cycle race, Lasvit, the Czech designer and manufacturer of light and glass installations, has hand-made and cut crystal trophies for the overall winner, best under-25 rider, best sprinter, and best climber. As in the previous two years, the trophies were designed by Peter Olah under the management of Jozef Kaban, chief designer of Škoda Auto, which has sponsored the event for several years.

Known for their well-curated and undeniably insightful shows, the Czech creative collective Okolo strikes again, this time with an exhibition focusing on the ‘trend of creating mirrors in the context of contemporary experimental design’ which emerged in the recent years. On view at at the Superstudio Clam-Gallasův palác during the upcoming Designblok 2012, Prague Design and Fashion Week which opens on Monday (1 October), ‘The Mirror’ will present various forms of the mirror perceived by contemporary designers and artists such as, among many; Uli Budde, Oscar Diaz, Tomáš Král, OS ∆ OOS and Martin Žampach. (more…)

The Parisian-based designer duo Dan Yeffet and Lucie Koldova have recently presented their latest collection of simple glass pendant lights called ‘Shadows’. Manufactured by the Czech lighting brand Brokis, the series is composed of four variously-shaped shades which are available in three colour versions: black-tinted semiopaque glass with a black ash neck; opaque, matte black glass with a black ash neck, and a matte white model with natural oak neck. (more…)

Zbyněk Hřivnáč, who was born in 1932 close to Opava, Moravia, belongs to a group of creative minds that could participate in designs from the large architectural and interior commissions of the former Czechoslovak state between the 1950s and 1980s.

Wed 11.7.

Young, Prague-based designer and founder of the Designeast.eu webzine Martin Žampach has created this series of hexagonal bowls made of innovative, lightweight-yet-resistant material composed of veneer and cork. Developed in various sizes and proportions, the bowls were recently showcased as part of Colabseries project during this year’s edition of DMY Berlin. (more…)

Drawing his inspiration from the iconic De Stijl Red and Blue Chair designed by Gerrit Rietveld almost one hundred years ago (in 1917), a young award-winning Czech designer Jan Plecháč has created this bold, wire chair for Gispen’s ‘Playing With Tradition’ brand NgispeN. Launched last week at the Temporary Museum For New Design in Superstudio Piu, ‘ICON 03′ can be used both indoors and outdoors thanks to its durable steel structure. (more…)

Earlier last week during Lodz Design Festival, the Czech Republic-based creative group Okolo has presented this intriguing exhibition focusing on the Czechoslovak table lamp design created in the second half of the 20th century. Titled ‘Light Sculptures, Czech Lights 1950 – 1990′, the exhibition ‘comprised a curatorial selection of several table lamps made during this period in the former Czechoslovakia, or in the territory of the present-day Czech Republic.’ Not a retrospective, it was viewed by its curators as ‘an unrestricted selection that depicts the development of the style of this typology on the example of several prominent designers or unique individual designs.’ (more…)